Saturday, March 3, 2012

Economic Impact of Glacier National Park

A new National Park Service report shows that more than 2 million visitors in 2010 spent almost 110 million dollars in Glacier National Park and in communities near the park. That spending supported 1,695 jobs in the local area.

"Glacier National Park has historically been an economic driver in the state," said Glacier National Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright. "This report shows the value that the many goods and services provided by local businesses are to the park visitor, as well as employment opportunities for the area," said Cartwright.

Most of the spending/jobs are related to lodging, food, and beverage service (52 percent) followed by other retail (29 percent), entertainment/amusements (10 percent), gas and local transportation (7 percent) and groceries (2 percent).

The figures are based on $12 billion of direct spending by 281 million visitors in 394 national parks and nearby communities and are included in an annual, peer-reviewed, visitor spending analysis conducted by Dr. Daniel Stynes of Michigan State University for the National Park Service.

Across the U.S, local visitor spending added a total of $31 billion to the national economy and supported more than 258,000 jobs, an increase of $689 million and 11,500 jobs over 2009.

To download the report click here and then click on Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll, 2010. The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.